Issue 16-156: Manufacturing Sales

August 16, 2016

B.C. manufacturing sales continued to seesaw in June, inching down 0.4% (seasonally adjusted) following a 1.1% rise in May. A decrease (-1.5%) in shipments by manufacturers of non-durable goods was largely the result of a downturn in the paper industry (-8.3%), where sales have been on the decline this year, and in chemical products (-2.0%). Food manufacturers posted an increase of 1.0%, while shipments by producers of beverages and tobacco (+0.6%) were also up.

In the durables sector, sales climbed 0.6%. The machinery industry jumped (+3.5%) and manufacturers of furniture (+3.3%) and computer and electronic products (+2.7%) also saw notable improvements. However, the overall increase was tempered by declining shipments by producers of wood (-0.1%), fabricated metal (-0.5%) and transportation equipment (-3.6%) products.

At the national level, manufacturing sales were up 0.8%. Much of the growth was attributable to strong sales in the machinery and transportation industries. Sales were partially marred by slowed sales among producers of food, primary metal and paper products. Shipments were mixed in other parts of the country, with P.E.I. (-12.9%) posting the most notable drop and Saskatchewan (+4.3%) recording the most substantial increase.

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